Party dissenter pays the price in Ward 24 election in New Haven

Randall Furlow, Alder Evette Hamilton and Art Perlo, from left to right, stand together after vote in Ward Committee election for Ward 24.

NEW HAVEN — There is a new team in place for Democrats in Ward 24, where a major dissenter in the mayoral election is out of a leadership role.

In the only ward co-chair election in the city, Art Perlo received 120 votes, Randall Furlow got 121 votes, while Gary Stewart received 20 votes. Nineteen of the ballots were blank.

The excited winners happily posed for pictures at the Ellsworth Avenue firehouse where the voting took place.

The small turnout was not unexpected in an election that most of the 1,351 registered Democrats in the ward likely were not tuned into, although they had been notified of it by the Registrar of Voters office.

Alder Evette Hamilton said going forward she expects more people to join the Ward Committee, which can have up to 50 members. She said there are far fewer than that now, although she was uncertain how many there were.

Better organization and help from her fellow Democrats is high on Hamilton’s list. She was elected in November to her fourth term as alder from the Beaver Hills neighborhood.

Furlow, bishop of New Life Covenant Church, continues to be co-chair, a position he has held for the past two years, while Perlo, a retired Yale University worke, is new to the job.

Furlow and Perlo, as team members, were positioned on the ballot next to each other.

Stewart backed Marcus Paca for mayor over Toni Harp in the primary and then as an independent in the general election, both of which Harp won overwhelmingly in her bid for a third term as mayor.

Stewart, a clinical social worker, with a long history of working for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, ran because he felt the Democratic Town Committee was a “closed shop,” with little room for dissent.

After Tuesday’s election, he said he expected to lose because he was up against the “Democratic machine.”

While Democrats nationally are urging their members to “resist” policies by the Trump administration, he urged New Haven Democrats to resist a local party he views as closed to different voices.

Stewart also said he feels the Yale University unions have too much power in city government, on the Board of Alders and within the party.

Stewart also had questions about absentee ballots. He said applications were put in for five ballots, but only one was sent to a city voter.

Hamilton said as they campaigned, they found some 30 Democrats who indicated an interest in working on the Ward Committee which will be a start to building better communication with her constituents.

“We will be able to do a lot more than just Evette Hamilton can do,” the alder said. “I’m grateful.”